Sooners react to president’s proposed gun controls

OKLAHOMA CITY – President Obama laid out several gun control proposals, including the restriction of certain weapons Wednesday.

It’s probably an understatement to say the president’s ideas are being met with skepticism by many Sooners.

“It’s demagoguery at its worst,” Ellis Sheker said. “He wants to use this as an excuse to disarm law-abiding citizens of the United States.”

Ellis and dozens of fellow gun enthusiasts looked on in disgust as the president signed 23 executive orders and then asked Congress to pass universal background checks and reinstate a ban on military style assault weapons.

“This is just an excuse to go after firearms; it’s not going to solve anything,” Sheker said.

“Taking that right is not gonna help because the bad guys are still gonna get the guns,” Dean Snapp said.

As the empty glass cases at H&H illustrate, sales of assault weapons have skyrocketed since the president first began discussing the possibility of gun controls last month.

In addition to banning those sales, the president proposed limiting the sale of high-capacity ammunition magazines.

“What’s the difference if I have four small clips or one large clip,” Snapp said. “You can reload just as quick.”

“They’re talking about attacking law-abiding citizens,” Sheker said. “He’s not going to solve the problem he says that he has with firearms.”

The fight in Congress will be a tough one.

Rep. Tom Cole issued a statement saying, “I will oppose any legislation to limit the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans, including a ban on so-called assault weapons. Restricting freedom is not the solution to gun violence.”

“I will continue to strongly oppose any effort to undermine the Second Amendment,” Sen. James Inhofe said. “An assault weapons ban will have no meaningful effect on gun violence.”

The president has also called for more police officers in schools and bolstering mental health training